Railway rail-fastening member and a railway rail and fastening arrangement incuding the member

ABSTRACT

A resilient rail clip has a flat surface where it bears downwardly upon electrically insulating material placed on the flange of a railway rail. The clip is elsewhere of circular cross section.

United States Patent Davies Apr. 25, 1972 [54] RAILWAY RAIL-FASTENING MEMBER 3,297,253 1/1967 Astley et a1. ..23s/349 AND A RAILWAY RAIL AND 3,338,521 8/1967 Sanson ..238/349 FASTENING ARRANGEMENT 3,460,756 8/1969 Sanson ..23 8/349 754,693 3/1904 Platt ....238/349 INCUDING THE MEMBER 2,144,413 1/1939 McGrew... ....238/349 [72] Inventor: Geoffrey Peter Davies, London, England 2,158,057 5/1939 Febrey ....238/349 [73] Assignee: Lockspike Limited London, England 3,463,394 8/ 1969 Jones et a1. ..238/349 22 i Jam 5 1970 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS App] 3 5 1,058,879 11/1953 France ..238/349 1,126,697 9/1968 Great Britain ..238/349 [30] Foreign Applicafion Priority Data Primary Examiner-Arthur L. La Point Mar. 19, 1969 Great Britain ..l4,492/69 AssistantExaminer-Richard A. Bertsch Attorney-Cushman, Darby & Cushman [52] US. Cl ..238/349 [51] Int. Cl ..E0lb 9/30 ABSTRACT [58] Field of Search 1 ..238/338365 A resilient rail p has a flat Surface where it bears downwardly upon electrically insulating material placed on [56] References Clted the flange of a railway rail. The clip is elsewhere of circular UNITED STATES PATENTS Section- 3,021,076 2/1962 Finch ..238/349 1 Claim, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEBAPR 25 I972 SHEET 10F 3 RAILWAY RAIL-FASTENING MEMBER AND A RAILWAY RAIL AND FASTENING ARRANGEMENT INCUDING THE MEMBER This invention relates to a railway rail and fastening arrangement.

According to the invention, there is provided a railway rail and fastening arrangement including a railway rail having a base or flange, electrically insulating material on the top of the rail base or flange and a resilient rail clip comprising a single length of resilient metal of rod form which has a circular cross section over the greater part of its length and is bent so as to have, progressing from one end of the length of metal to the other, a first portion in the form of a substantially straight leg substantially parallel to the length of the rail, then a second portion, then a third portion, then a fourth portion, then a fifth portion, these portions being such that when the clip is viewed from above the third and fifth portions appear to be on opposite sides of the axis of the first portion, one of the third and fifth portions having on its underneath side a flat surface extending along a short length of it, wholly between the two ends of the length of metal of rod form and in surface contact with and bearing downwardly upon the electrically insulating material.

Examples in accordance with the invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 show two side views and FIG. 3 shows a plan view of a railway rail and fastening arrangement,

FIGS. 4 to 6 show three views of a resilient railway railfastening member forming part of the arrangement shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, FIGS. 4 and 6 showing views taken as indicated by the arrows IV and VI, respectively, in FIG. 5,

FIG. 7 shows a side view, taken as indicated by the arrow VII in FIG. 8, of another resilient railway rail-fastening member which may be used instead of the member according to FIGS. 4 to 6 in an arrangement which is otherwise like that shown in FIGS. 1 to 3,

FIG. 8 shows a side view of the same rail-fastening member, taken as indicated by the arrow VIII in FIG. 7,

FIG. 9 shows a plan view of the same rail-fastening member in the attitude in which it is used, and

FIG. 10 shows a view, corresponding to FIG. 9, of another resilient railway rail-fastening member.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, there is shown the flange 1 of a flangefooted railway rail resting on a rubber pad 2 which is laid on the upper surface 3A of a concrete railway sleeper 3. On the two sides of the rail there are two similar arrangements for holding the rail down, although this is shown only in the case of the left hand side. It includes a railway rail-fastening member or clip as described below and illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6. Three limbs 7, 8 and 9 of the clip are shown, in dotted lines, in FIG. 1. On the edge of the flange there is placed an electrical insulator consisting of an elongate nylon moulding 4 of approximately L-shaped cross section, one limb of which lies on the rail flange and has the limb 9 of the rail clip bearing upon it, whereas the other limb 6 lies against the side of the rail flange and has a recess in it.

An anchoring member is fixed to the sleeper, this consisting of cast iron and comprising a flat surface 11 lying on the upper surface 3A of the sleeper, a projecting leg 12 extending downwardly into the sleeper, a block portion 13, substantially square as seen in plan, extending upwardly from the surface 11, a concave surface 14 at the top of the block portion 13 and a passage 15 of circular cross section, having flared mouths 15A, in the block portion 13, the passage 15 being substantially parallel to the length of the rail. The limb 7 of the rail clip is driven in the passage 15 and presses upwardly on the upper surface of the passage, whereas the limb 8 of the rail clip presses downwardly on the concave surface 14. Part of the block portion 13 lies in the recess 10 in the insulator 4 so that the insulator is prevented from sliding along the rail when the clip is being driven into position, by abutting the block portion 13.

The leg 12 of the anchoring member is formed with protuberances 16 on all four sides and it is cast in the concrete, that is to say incorporated inthe concrete before the latter has set.

Referring to FIGS. 4 to 6, the above-mentioned first, second, 'third, fourth and fifth portions of the rail-fastening member shown are referenced 7, 17, 9, 18 and 8, respectively. When the member is in use the first portion 7, which is a substantially straight leg, is horizontal and when the member is viewed from above the third and fifth portions 8 and 9 appear to be on opposite sides of the axis of the first portion 7. Each of the portions 17 and 18 is a single reverse bend. These portions are at opposite ends of the member and do not lie one above the other when the member is in use. The member is made by bending a resilient steel bar of circular cross section and providing it with a flat surface 9A extending along a short length of the limb 9 of the clip. This flat surface is in contact with and bears downwardly upon the limb 5 of the insulator 4. It is formed on the limb 9 without removing any material. Its purpose is to ensure that the area of contact between the limb 9 of the rail-fastening member and the limb 5 of the insulator is greater than it would be if the limb 9 were of circular cross section where it touches the limb 5. Thus any tendency for the limb 9 to sink into the insulator, after the assembly of the rail and fastening arrangement, is reduced. Any sinking-in of the limb 9 into the insulator results in a reduction from the design value of the holding-down force exerted on the rail.

If the rail-fastening member were so positioned that the limb 8 of it bears upon the limb 5 of the insulator 4, then the limb 8, instead of the limb 9, would be provided with a flat surface making contact with the insulating material.

In FIGS. 7 to 9, the numbers 21 to 25 denote the first, second, third, fourth and fifth portions, mentioned above, of the rail-fastening member, which is again made by bending a rod of resilient steel of circular cross section. The portion 21 corresponds to the limb 7 of FIGS. 4 to 6 and can be driven in the passage 15 of FIGS. 1 to 3. The portion 23 corresponds to the limb 9 of FIGS. 4 to 6 and has a flat surface 23A on its lower side for engagement with the limb 5 of the insulator 4 of FIGS. 1 to 3. The portion 25 corresponds to the limb 8 of FIGS. 4 to 6 and bears upon the surface 14 of FIGS. 1 to 3. If the member were so disposed that the portion 25 rested upon the insulator, then its lower side would have a flat surface instead of the flat surface 23A being provided. The second portion 22 has a part 22A which crosses and lies above a part 24A of the fourth portion 24. Instead, the fourth portion 24 could have a part which crosses and lies above the second portion 22. The portion 25 extends to the left when considering FIG. 9, so that the free end of the rod is at the left-hand end of the portion 25. Instead, the portion 25 could extend to the right.

The member shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 is for use if the portion 21 is to be driven in one direction into the passage 15. If it is to be driven in the opposite direction, a modified version, as shown in FIG. 10, will be used. Both members are such that when the member is in use the portion 21, the substantially straight leg, is horizontal and when the member is viewed from above the third and fifth portions 23 and 25 appear to be on opposite sides of the axis of the first portion 21.

In each of the examples described above the flat surface on the rail-fastening member or clip is wholly between the ends of the length of metal which has been bent to make it and is in surface contact, not merely line contact, with the insulating material.

I claim:

1. A railway rail and fastening arrangement including a railway rail having a base or flange, electrically insulating material on top of the rail base or flange and a resilient rail clip comprising a single length of resilient metal of rod form which has a circular cross section over the greater part of its length and is bent so as to have, progressing from one end of the length of metal to the other, a first portion in the form of a substantially straight leg substantially parallel to the length of the rail, then a second portion, then a third portion, then a fourth portion, then a fifth portion, these portions being such that when the clip is viewed from above the third and fifth portions appear to be on opposite sides of the axis of the first portion, one of the third and fifth portions having on its underneath side a flat surface extending along a short length of it, wholly between the two ends of the length of metal of rod form and in surface con- 5 tact with and bearing downwardly upon the electrically insulating material. 

1. A railway rail and fastening arrangement including a railway rail having a base or flange, electrically insulating material on top of the rail base or flange and a resilient rail clip comprising a single length of resilient metal of rod form which has a circular cross section over the greater part of its length and is bent so as to have, progressing from one end of the length of metal to the other, a first portion in the form of a substantially straight leg substantially parallel to the length of the rail, then a second portion, then a third portion, then a fourth portion, then a fifth portion, these portions being such that when the clip is viewed from above the third and fifth portions appear to be on opposite sides of the axis of the first portion, one of the third and fifth portions having on its underneath side a flat surface extending along a short length of it, wholly between the two ends of the length of metal of rod form and in surface contact with and bearing downwardly upon the electrically insulating material. 